Vignettes of the World
We rose early to visit the Duy Phu village at My Son Valley. My Son, in Vietnamese, means “beautiful mountain.” In this part of Vietnam, the celebrated ancient culture is that of the Champa people. Now considered an ethnic minority (one of the 55), the …
God might have been with me on Monday, but certainly not on Tuesday. There was intermittent rain when we had breakfast. We liked the crisp baguette yesterday, so this time we ditched the eggs and requested Vietnamese ham instead. Our driver kept us wait a …
Spring is here in Hong Kong and I seize every chance I can to hike, for when summer comes it will be too hot to do so. This day I chose the Lau Shui Heung Country Trail in Fanling, in northern New Territories.
Lau Shui Heung is a poetic name. In Chinese it means the sound of flowing water.
Once arriving at the Lau Shui Heung Reservoir, I saw two openings of the trail. I knew then that I was at the starting and ending point of the loop. The opening on the left showed a massive set of stairs up, so naturally I picked the one on the right.
Readers would, as I did, expect lots of water scenes on the trail, and normally it was a scenery of waters. However, after a rather dry winter, the Lau Shui Heung Reservoir dried up completely. As in, people could walk upon the reservoir itself, with no mud on the shoes.
The streams that would have made the music of water was flowing at a shallow ebb. Yet it would not take much imagination to picture the beauty of which it was capable. I passed by a few bridges.
The Lung Shan Bridge (Dragon Mountain Bridge) was once named Cheuk Shan Bridge (Bird Mountain Bridge). Villagers renamed it as Dragon Mountain for good luck.
This area was full of shades, the lush foliage was a pleasing sight.
After about a 45-minute stroll on this part of the trail, I then arrived at the crossroads. The signs showed Cloudy Hill, and to complete the loop of Lau Shui Heung Country Trail, one would have to pick Cloudy Hill then Kat Tsai Shan Au. Kat Tsai Shan in Chinese means Mandarin Orange Mountain. It acquired this name because there used to be an abundance of mandarin oranges in this area. Production ceased however, after WWII. While there were once villages in this area, it is now deserted.
Before I headed off, the two experienced hikers that showed me the way said, “are you sure about that? It is very steep up that trail.”
I was sure about that when I started, but as I hiked up the very steep incline I did wonder how I would find the strength to complete it.
This part of the trail was steep, and a never-ending meander. This would be the reason why Kat Tsai Shan was once a military lookout. Its height enabled views of the city as I walked up. Despite being rigorous, the road was concrete all the way up, and that was also for military purpose, in allowing supply logistics. As such, it was easy on the feet.
Perhaps after about another 45 minutes, I made it to the Gazebo.
From then on, it was an easy descent on steps for another hour or so. I sprained my ankle on the way, but thankfully I could complete the trail. On the way down there was another detour to the Hok Tau Reservoir. Both the Lau Shui Heung Reservoir and the Hok Tau Reservoir are fresh water reserves for the irrigation of nearby fields in northern New Territories. I decided against visiting the Hok Tau Reservoir, for I did not think my ankle would hold up.
I finally made it back to the starting point of the trail. If I were to do this trail again, I probably would still opt for the Kat Tsai Shan incline. To go on the other direction would be 45 minutes of upward steps and it would be hard on the knees.
When I was young, my grandmother would bring me fruits of the Chinse wampi. “It’s from Tsung Pak Long,” she would say. The sourness of this fruit left a bitter impression. As such, since a young age I have learned not to eat it. But …
We asked for a ride to Ba Na Hills. When we arrived at Ba Na Hills 20 minutes later, only then did we realize that we joined a tour. They tour guide advised us to stick with the tour group until it ended at 3:30. …
Danang was my third trip to Vietnam. I had not written much during my first two trips, which were to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, respectively. Therefore I will start with my third trip.
To Danang and Hoi An it was.
The street scenes of Danang reminded me of the smaller townships of China. My companion noted that he felt at home, and I agreed. The streets of Danang lined with all sorts of small shops. Being the country of the motorbikes, Vietnam’s streets were full of rows and rows of them.
It is strangely liberating to travel in developing countries. Not to say they are less civilized, but as tourists we were held only so much to the social norms of this culture. We felt free to walk on the wrong direction of the motorcade. We became millionaires as soon as we exchanged the local currency. With all western etiquettes out the window, we would sometimes be mistaken for being locals.
We stayed at a youth hostel on the northwestern part of the city. Despite coming in at a late hour, I felt immediately the warmth of the reception. There were some Vietnamese locals hanging out with a young Englishman. He told us that he just finished with uni in the UK. He was going to pass by Danang for a night, but then met everyone here. I sensed that he meant to say that the stay at this hostel was life changing. But being British he probably was too reserved to put it that way. In any case, he decided to stay in Danang. He would start teaching English soon.
Nga worked at the reception. She oversaw the management of the hostel. Although I was hoping for a good-ole Vietnamese noodle on the street, we took her suggestion to have seafood at a proper establishment. The restaurant was Vietquan, down the street. After rounds of communicating with body language and the translation app, we settled on a grilled fish and wok-fry clams with lemon grass. The dishes were wonderful.
Next morning I woke at 6:20 or so and took a morning walk. I located a small street stall where I would gladly have breakfast. My companion was still asleep. The plan of the day was Ba Na Hills. I worried that it would rain as we went during the rainy season. Yet this day greeted me with generous sunshine. I had a feeling that it would be a great day.
Our breakfast was a wonderful ramen with a crisp baguette. The baguette was warm on a coal-lit stove.
This would be my second try at finding the War Relics Trail, also known as Maclehose Trail Section 6. Last time, I attempted to reach this section of the Maclehose Trail by the starting point of the Kowloon Reservoir. I was lost. The War Relics …
I love Vietnam. Being a child of Hong Kong, I grew up knowing just a few countries. There was Britain, which as a colonial power administered Hong Kong during my formative years. There was China, a motherland that scared most of Hong Kong people away …
I was very ambitious in trying to walk the Maclehose Trail Section 6 from the starting point of the Kowloon Reservoir. It turned out that I lost my way. I never made it out to the War Relics Trail, which would have been the final stretch of this trail. I did however enjoy the views of Kowloon Reservoir and the Kam Shan Country Park.
The Kowloon Reservoir is probably not as well-known as the general area that it is in, which is Monkey Hill, as it is fondly known by the locals of Hong Kong. The Kowloon Reservoir was the first of the Kowloon group of reservoirs to begin service, in 1910. The group consists of the Kowloon Reservoir, the Shek Lei Pui Reservoir (1925), Kowloon Reception Reservoir (1926), and the Kowloon Byewash Reservoir (1931). The Kowloon Reservoir, despite its name, is actually the first reservoir in the New Territories. Its curved dam structure is a special feature.[1]
Having passed the boundary sign for Shatin, I parked in the parking lot on Tai Po Road, and followed signs for the Kam Shan Country Park. The first part of the trail was an easy stroll with wonderful reservoir views.
Speaking of monkeys, the Macaque Monkeys are native to Hong Kong. There really were many of them once we began the incline up the Kam Shan Country Park. All along the gradual incline that was 2km in distance, the monkeys tracked closely beside us.
The day was slightly overcast. We walked all the way to the very end of Golden Hill Road. At the roundabout, we walked further along the aqueduct, and eventually reached somewhere in Kwai Chung. I knew that we have missed the Maclehose Trail 6 altogether by then.
The hike was pretty easy all throughout. Once having passed the initial incline, there were lots of shades in the rest of the Golden Hill Road. It was a paved road throughout, basically meant for vehicles.
[1] See generally the Water Supplies Department.
It was time to say goodbye to the Dying Lion. I headed back and passed by the Hofkirche St Leodegar (The Church of St. Leodegar). The Church of St. Leodegar, the Catholic Foundation of Luzern St. Leodegar is Luzern’s patron saint. In the Chapel Bridge, …